Similoluwa was super excited all day as the D-day drew closer. She had spent the last 6 months planning one of the biggest weddings the city of Port Harcourt was about to witness and being the perfectionist, she had gone the extra mile to ensure that every item supplied was top quality, the environment where the food was prepared was always kept clean. Similoluwa was elated that it was all coming together, and all her efforts were paying off eventually; she ultimately couldn’t wait to see the bright and beautiful smiles on the faces of the couple. For Simi (as she was fondly referred to), the smiles on the faces of her clients were the choicest prize and reward for doing what she loved; besides, from those smiles came referrals which implied more fulfilment. Simi was snapped to reality when Johnson, a relative of the groom who wanted to have a supervisory overview of preparations before they signed off the remainder of her professional fees asked if she had any ISO Standards certification on her brand. Simi thought ISO certifications were reserved for IT companies, banking and health sectors and had nothing to do with the hospitality and event planning services that she belonged to.

Just like Simi, so many do not know about the ISO Standard for sustainable events. In a city like Lagos, Nigeria where lots of events take place almost every weekend and with lots of event management companies some registered, and others not registered; the ISO 20121 certification enlightenment becomes a necessary subject.

ISO 20121 is the Sustainable Events standard and this standard offers guidance and provide the best practices to help manage events and regulate the short and long term impact of the event socially, economically and environmentally. Events use high volume of items ranging from water bottles to food served and even means of transportation. Water served at events for example usually come in plastic bottles and litters the environment after the event because it is non-biodegradable, and this has long term effects on the environment. The number of cars also used for events also impacts negatively on the environment. The subject of climate change has been a subject of major discussion at various sessions and the carbon emitted into the atmosphere from vehicles used to attend events also degrade and deplete the environment.

Events take a heavy toll on the environment and resources and the society at large, often polluting the environment and atmosphere. The ISO 20121 standard is a must for event and hospitality service providers to ensure the right measures for sustainability of the environment. 21Search can provide you with all the necessary assistance to get this certification and any other ISO standardization certificate. Kindly visit www.21search.ng for more information.

Love,

Lizzy   

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